CANADIAN FILM A SENSORY EXPERIENCE OF SORTS.Byline: Bob Strauss Film Critic ``The Five Senses'' is an ambitious, character-based ensemble movie about the current state of human relations human relations npl → relaciones fpl humanas . It's along the lines of ``Magnolia'' or ``The Decalogue,'' and while it's not as demanding, insightful or formally audacious as either of those, Jeremy Podeswa's dour Canadian film possesses a pleasing amount of emotional sense and sensitivity. There is, however, a nagging obviousness to Podeswa's organizing theme. The film's five main, intertwining stories are - you guessed it - keyed to acts of touch, taste, sight, smell and hearing. Whereas you really had to think multilaterally to get ``Decalogue's'' Ten Commandments Ten Commandments or Decalogue [Gr.,=ten words], in the Bible, the summary of divine law given by God to Moses on Mt. Sinai. They have a paramount place in the ethical system in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. references and follow feelings like you would a symphony in ``Magnolia,'' this one connects the dots much more simply. The circumstances here are, for the most part, intelligent and moving, but a sense of the schematic sometimes takes away from the mystery and richness finely detailed behavior ought to possess. The film's other central motif is a Toronto brownstone brownstone, red to brown variety of sandstone. Its unusual color is caused in some instances by the presence of red iron oxide which acts as a cement, binding the sand grains together. where several of the characters live and/or work. One is a masseuse masseuse /mas·seuse/ (-sldbomacz´) [Fr.] a woman who performs massage. and widowed mother (Gabrielle Rose Gabrielle Elaine Franco Rose (born November 1, 1977 in Memphis, Tennessee) is a freestyle, medley and breaststroke swimmer from the United States, who has dual citizenship with Brazil because her of ``The Sweet Hereafter''), whose anti-social teen-age daughter Rachel (Nadia Litz Nadia Litz is a Canadian actress born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1976. A former child actor, she has described herself as somewhat ambitious.[1] She is of Russian, Polish and British descent, and the press has noted her small stature. ) loses a client's young child in a nearby park. While the search for the missing toddler occupies the local news and much of the film's dialogue for three days, Rachel refocuses her imperfect watchfulness on a young male acquaintance (Brendan Fletcher), who shares her interest in dressing up and role playing role playing, n in behavioral medicine, learning exercise in which individuals assume characters different from their own. The individual may also be asked to simulate a particularly difficult situation and apply the characteristics that are common to his . A French eye doctor (Philippe Volter), who also has an office in the building, is losing his hearing; he's trying to collect a backlog of aural experiences in his head while he still can. And on another floor, we've got Rona (Mary-Louise Parker), who bakes great-looking but bad-tasting party cakes for a living and who could use the dose of real sweetness Roberto (Marco Leonardi), an Italian vacation romance come home to roost Home to Roost is a British television sitcom produced by Yorkshire Television. Written by Eric Chappell, it starred John Thaw as Henry Willows and Reece Dinsdale as his 18-year-old son Matthew. , would love to inject into her life and work if she only trusted him enough to let him. On the olfactory olfactory /ol·fac·to·ry/ (ol-fak´ter-e) pertaining to the sense of smell. ol·fac·to·ry adj. Of, relating to, or contributing to the sense of smell. front, Rona's bisexual best friend Robert (Daniel MacIvor) hires out as an upscale housekeeper and has convinced himself that he can smell true love. He's busy looking up old boyfriends and girlfriends in the hope that he might be able to sniff out that special pheromone pheromone Any chemical compound secreted by an organism in minute amounts to elicit a particular reaction from other organisms of the same species. Pheromones are widespread among insects and vertebrates (except birds) and are present in some fungi, slime molds, and algae. he might have missed the first time around. Granted, some of these plotlines sound mighty ludicrous; some of them inarguably are. But there's a straightfaced, measured sincerity - call it Canadian if you must - in Podeswa and his fine cast's attack that draws credible behavior out of even the cutesiest script notions. Of course, what all of these folks and the characters who enter their orbit are longing for is that often elusive sixth sense, the one that just makes you know you're connected to someone else. In its deliberate, gray-and-brown, well-mannered way, ``The Five Senses'' is deliriously passionate about making that connection. The facts --The film: ``The Five Senses'' (R; nudity, language, sex, children in jeopardy). --The stars: Gabrielle Rose, Molly Parker, Mary-Louise Parker, Marco Leonardi, Nadia Litz, Brendan Fletcher, Daniel MacIvor, Philippe Volter. --Behind the scenes: Written and directed by Jeremy Podeswa. Produced by Podeswa and Camelia Frieberg. Released by Fine Line Features. --Running time: One hour, 45 minutes. --Playing: Playhouse 7, Pasadena; Westside Pavilion, West L.A.; Sunset 5, West Hollywood --Our rating: Three stars. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Rona (Mary-Louise Parker) has a difficult time truly trusting Roberto (Marco Leonardi) in ``The Five Senses.'' |
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